Send this to a friend

The issue: The decision by Delta Air Lines to not renew its naming rights for Milwaukee’s convention center

Our stance: Finding another business to buy the naming rights is important from both a financial and branding standpoint for the Wisconsin District.

To say the recent decision by Delta Air Lines to not renew its naming rights deal with Milwaukee’s convention center is confusing would be an understatement.

Just eight months after agreeing to assume the last year of the deal the Wisconsin Center District had with Frontier Airlines, Delta decided not to renew its agreement last week. The move came despite the fact the airline had spent more than $80,000 installing its name on the building. The signs were not even installed until February 2013.

Delta officials declined to explain their confusing strategy, but the decision left Wisconsin Center officials scrambling to fill the unexpected void.

Frank Gimbel, chairman of the district’s board, tried to downplay Delta’s decision, but there is no question it is a troubling move as it will mean the loss of $500,000 for the district, Visit Milwaukee, which is the city’s convention and visitors bureau, and Spirit of Milwaukee, a private nonprofit corporation that promotes Milwaukee.

It also is a blow to the branding efforts of the convention center as officials try to attract more meetings in a competitive environment in which Milwaukee now competes against the likes of Chicago and Minneapolis.

Gimbel is right to have the next naming rights holder share billing with the Wisconsin Center. One local example of that is how BMO Harris Bank bought naming rights at the Bradley Center, but the Bradley Center name remains on the building.

Industries:

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.